Baselworld is only a few weeks away. Getting the latest news is easy, Click Here for info on how to join the Watchuseek.com newsletter list. Follow our team for updates featuring event coverage, new product unveilings, watch industry news & more!

If you've heard of one and know what it is, go read something else! ;-) This is not about the usual 1080p, 4K, hybrid or super zoom. This is about a camcorder of a different style and unusual purposes.

I had never heard of a Brinno TLC200 until my niece, a librarian in Louisiana, said she bought three for her library. Her intention is to teach teach kids a little creative thinking with what she calls "stop motion video". I had not heard of that either.

The Brinno TLC200 is primarily marketed as a fully automatic time lapse camera. You put 4 AA batteries and an micro SD card in it, aim it and press the button. You come back later, pull the card, stick it in your computer and watch. No software included or needed. Searching YouTube for "Brinno TLC200"

The interesting twist at the library is a cheap single shot remote making "stop motion video" easy. The kids in the library move their toys a little at a time and press the remote with each move. They end up turning their imaginative play into a video production. Tonka Trucks and Barbie Dolls become the stars in their movies.

The Brinno TLC200 can be set on any flat surface or a tripod. The lens even tilts.

My Panasonic camcorder can do time lapse, but the battery is a limitation. The first time I used it, the battery died before there was much footage. The second time I used it, I had to use the power cord plugged into an inverter attached to a car battery. The Brinno TLC200 has "advanced power management" and the batteries can "last months".

I think I could do "stop motion" with any camera's stills, but it would be some serious work in editing. It would certainly challenge a kid.

That's really neat. Here's the more expensive (but not that much more) less-specialized competitor:

The TS5 (FT5) has a built-in intervalometer. You can set the interval from 10 seconds to 60 minutes between snaps. You can preset the precise start time within a 24-hour period. You can set the max number of snaps. And here's the neat thing, within the camera it will take all of those mpegs and make a full HD 1920x1080 30fps (or 6 fps) MP4 video. No computer software needed. And of course you have all those 16 megapixel jpegs too, use of the zoom lens, manual controls etc. And you have wifi remote control and viewing.

What's the rub: as Bill said for his camcorder, if you cannot plug in the TS5 into an AC outlet (which you can do with an accessory), the battery limits the number of snaps to about 400 (that is not the theoretical limit of the intervalometer).

The TLC200 on the other hand does up to 300,000 snaps (!) from 4 AA batteries (but you cannot, unlike the FT5, leave it out if it rains or is freezing). You get a 1280x720 avi video (frame rate not specified) and can choose between 1 second and 24 hours of interval.

The TLC200 on the other hand does up to 300,000 snaps (!) from 4 AA batteries (but you cannot, unlike the FT5, leave it out if it rains or is freezing). You get a 1280x720 avi video (frame rate not specified) and can choose between 1 second and 24 hours of interval.

I plan on getting this for my full frame Sony NEX-VG900 since I have two extra large batteries and AC adapter for it. I could shoot some 6K timelapse with it.

And how many places are you going to leave your $4K 6K camera for the hours it takes to get the time lapse. The one decent time lapse I shot, I locked my $800 Panasonic in my wife's car and had it set to shoot through the window. I was sweating bullets that someone would break the windows!

The Brinno is so ugly nobody would want it. It looks like a security camera or something. And at $160 the pain of loss would be minimized.

And how many places are you going to leave your $4K 6K camera for the hours it takes to get the time lapse. The one decent time lapse I shot, I locked my $800 Panasonic in my wife's car and had it set to shoot through the window. I was sweating bullets that someone would break the windows!

The Brinno is so ugly nobody would want it. It looks like a security camera or something. And at $160 the pain of loss would be minimized.

Bill

Yes, theft is another issue with outdoor time-lapse (the Panasonic manual warns about the possibility of theft in the section on the intervalometer). It also helps to have a really ugly and cheap car.

I am looking for different lens for my TLC 200 Pro. A fisheye and a wide angle. Has anyone used one on their TLC 200 Pro? Any comments? Any info on "specifically" which ones to order? I hope to hear from someone on this. Thanks.